Daddy's Hero
by Rookblonkorules
Summary: A thunderstorm ruins Reid's plans with his daughter, but that doesn't mean he still can't salvage the day. He's unprepared, however, for the direction the conversation sees fit to take them. Set in the same universe as Trust and According to Plan, but can be read on its own. Gift fic for ahowell1993.


**Note:** Birthday gift for Ahowell1993. It's... not really what the prompt was, but the muse had some other ideas that I wanted to explore. I ended up liking where they took me, so I left it as it was. I do hope to actually go back to the original plan and I'm considering turning this into a series of one-shots set in the _Trust _universe.

So far the _Trust _universe contains:

-_Trust_

_-According to Plan_

_-Daddy's Hero_

All of them are stand-alone, however.

In any case, happy birthday, ahowell!

* * *

Rain poured down around him, thick as sleet. He raised a hand, shielding his eyes in an attempt to see better, but even that effort afforded his vision minimal improvement.

He was thoroughly soaked- not having anticipated getting caught in a downpour, or his car breaking down for that matter, he hadn't bothered to wear a raincoat.

Reid was really starting to regret that decision now.

While his jacket kept him warm, it offered no protection against precipitation.

Rainwater ran down his face in rivulets, drenching his hair, his clothes, until he's sure he might be dragging a lake back into the house when he returned.

Speaking of which-

-he grunted when his shin hit something hard, pain like lightning shooting up his leg.

With a quiet curse, he rubbed his shin, squinting in the darkness.

The steps. He'd been so lost in his own thoughts that he'd walked straight into the wooden steps of his own home.

He wrapped his jacket more tightly around his torso and mounted the steps.

The small home he shared with his family was on the second story. Shortly after their marriage, he and Lila had moved from his small apartment in the middle of the city to renting the upper floor of a quaint, two story home in the suburbs.

It was homey- more suited to the prospect of raising a family- which was what Lila had wanted. There was even a small lawn.

He didn't bother trying the knob. With his line of work being what it was, he'd always impressed the importance of keeping the door locked to his wife.

He rapped his knuckles against the door three times in quick succession.

A child's laughter, singing, "Daddy's ho-o-ome!" reached his ears, followed by the mother's inaudible response.

He smiled, heart warming.

The door opened and Lila stepped partially out onto the porch.

Slowly, she looked him up and down. She nodded, crossing her arms with a sassy flip of her hair.

"You," she said. Her lips twitched, as if they were trying to smile and not quite succeeding, "are soaked."

"Yeah." He assumed a typical scarecrow's posture, spreading his arms and letting the too big sleeves hang down like sheets hung out in the sun to dry. "It's what happens when you get caught in the rain."  
The lips quirked up this time. She knew what had happened. He'd called her to explain he'd be late. "Cars are supposed to keep this from happening."

"Yeah, well." He gently grasped her upper arms, pulling her closer. "Claire and I will have to take a cab."

Postponing was out of the question.

Lila protested lightly, pressing her hands against his chest, a passive gesture of resistance.

"You're gonna get me all wet."

Her protest melded into a soft noise of content as their lips met in a kiss. He wrapped his arms more tightly around her, pulling her close.

"Daddy!"

A screeching ball of energy darted around her mother, slamming herself against her father's legs.

"Whoa!" Reid wobbled, one hand flying out to support himself on the slick railing. "Hey, baby girl!"

His daughter grinned up at him, arms wrapped tightly around his knees.

Claire was a small girl, skinny like her father, with hair so blonde it was almost colorless. She had a nose that some said was a little too thin and eyes that some thought were a little too big, but to her parents, she was the most beautiful child in the world.

"Daddy take me out!"

"Claire!" Lila scooped the little girl up in her arm. "Daddy's soaked. You're gonna get all wet."

The little girl giggled, squishing Lila's cheeks with her palms. "Mommy's wet!" she squealed.

"Mommy's wet?" Lila gasped, as if surprised, mouth agape.

"When you hugged Daddy!"

"You're so smart." Lila set her down, giving her a gentle swat. "Go get changed or Daddy can't take you out."

Claire stepped back, hands folded behind her back. " But I want… but I want Daddy to take me out."

Reid crouched down. "I know, Twigs, but I can't take you out unless you're all dry. You don't want to get sick!"

Claire poked him in the cheek, letting her eyes trail down. "You're all wet too. You get sick?" She looked him in the face, pale blue eyes wide and earnest.

"No, silly!" He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to get dry too."

"Hurry up," Lila chirped, standing over them. "You don't want to be late."

With an excited shriek, Claire shot up and darted through the doorway. She stopped and turned around, standing on her tippy-toes. "Daddy, look! I got taller!"

"Wow! I see that!" Reid clapped his hands. "You're so big!"

She grinned. Then, with another shriek, she disappeared into the house.

"She's been so excited," Lila said. "She's wanted to show that to you all day." She slid her arms around Reid, disregarding the current state of his being. "Now." She rolled her eyes to look at him, lips twisted in a sly smile. "Why don't we get you inside before this dampness takes over the house?"

* * *

Claire came running out of her room like a whirlwind shortly after Reid and Lila had shut the door and before they had had the chance to even make it past the living room couch.

They broke away from each other, with almost mutually guilty grins, and then it was all Claire as their small daughter demanded their immediate attention.

"I'm ready!" She bounced up and down. "I'm ready!"

She had changed her shirt and only her shirt. The new shirt was bubblegum pink- with a unicorn print on the back!

"Hang on, baby!" Lila caught her by the back of the shirt before she could go bounding off. "You've got your shirt on backwards!"

She wiggled Claire out of her shirt, maneuvering it back on the correct way this time.

"Now can we go?" Claire looked from one parent to the other.

"No, sillly. Daddy's still wet." Lila took her hand and guided her to the couch. "Why don't I do something special to your hair? Make you look all pretty for your date with Daddy. Would you like that?"

"Mm-hm." Humming softly to herself, she let her mother take her away.

Lila shot Reid a quick glance, and he hurried away before their daughter could distract him with something else.

Lila was standing at the window when he returned.

Claire was curled on the couch, quietly flipping the pages of her _Fancy Nancy_ picture book. Her lips moved as she mouthed the familiar words to herself.

Thunder boomed overhead and rain still drummed away at the roof.

Lila turned around. Her arms were crossed and Reid noticed that she was chewing her lip.

"Spence, I don't think you should go out in this storm," she said, with a furtive glance at Claire.

Claire turned the page and continued mouthing to herself, completely at peace. She hadn't heard her mother.

Reid came to stand beside her, pushing aside the curtain to get a better look at the world outside.

If possible, the rain was coming down even harder than before. More thunder cracked. He was glad he hadn't been caught outside in that.

He cast a sideways glance at his daughter.

"Please?" Lila begged. "I know… I know you promised her, but I don't want you- either of you- out in that if you don't have to be."

"Can we go now?"

"I…"

Lightning flashed and the lights went out.

There was a stifled gasp from Claire.

Something bumped into Reid's leg and a small hand latched onto the leg of his pants.

The lights flickered back on.

Claire was holding to her father's leg.

"Daddy?" she whispered uncertainly.

"Just a power outage." He reached down and ruffled her hair.

Lila rested her hand delicately on his elbow.

"Pick another night," she said. "Please don't go out in this."

Claire turned wide eyes to her father. "We can't go?" she asks, heartbreak in her voice.

Something closes off Reid's throat and he shares a glance with his wife.

He swallows. "Sorry, sweetie." He gets down on his knees and pulls her close. "You don't want to go out in this storm, do you?"

She gives him an affronted look. "I do! You promised!"

"I know, but the storm…"

Claire looks past him, at the rain coming down so thick it's impossible to see two feet past the window.

He sees the indecision painted across her face.

The lights flicker again.

This time they don't come back.

"Daddy…" Claire sounds uncertain, but she isn't frightened. Not yet.

The dark had never frightened his daughter much.

Reid would like to keep it that way.

With a gentle nudge, he hands Claire over to her mother.

"I know we have a flashlight around here somewhere."

His knee slams into something- the coffee table, he realizes- and he hisses. He rubs his throbbing leg and proceeds with far more caution.

The flashlight was kept in a drawer. The drawer should be…

Reid slides it open, feels the inside.

He shuts it. "Lila, did you move the flashlight?"

"Um… I think I… I must have left it on the counter. Sorry."

"It's fine. What were you doing with it?"

"Looking under the bed. Claire thought there might be a monster."

Reid's forehead wrinkles. "In the middle of the day?" He realizes what he just said. "Why was she thinking about monsters?"

"Katie said she found one under her bed." It's Claire who answers. "She said it was _this big."_

Without a light, it's impossible to see how big Katie said the monster was, but he trusts that it was big.

"Well, our house is monster free." That's Lila. "I don't know about Katie's house, but I know about our house. You can ask your dad."

Reid finds the flashlight, switches it on and turns back to his family. He sits on the couch and pats the cushion next to him.

Claire accepts the invitation immediately, running to hop up beside him and snuggle into his side.

Lila joins them, sitting on Claire's other side.

"Do you know why our house is monster free?" he asks.

Claire doesn't answer, but he can feel her shake her head pressed up against his side.

"That's because…" Reid takes a moment to swallow, wrapping his arm a little more tightly around her.

Lila places her hand over his.

"That's because I fight them."

"Really?" Claire's voice contains a mixture of excitement and awe and she bounds to her knees, hands on her father's chest.

Reid can't help a small smile at his daughter's enthusiasm, but the exact nature of the kind of monsters he faces leaves him feeling grim,

Lila sense this, giving hand a gentle squeeze.

Grateful for her presence, he squeezes back.

"Yes," he says. He presses a soft kiss to her forehead. "You'll never have to worry about the monsters, Claire," he tells her. "Because I'll be keeping them away from you."

Content, Claire settles in his lap and reaches up to stroke his hair, arranging it in a way only she could see fit.

"One day," she says, with feeling, "I'll be the one to keep monsters away."

"I know, sweetie," Reid says and hugs her tight.

He prays she never has to.


End file.
